England lost their fourth Test of the Ashes series and their fourth to Australia by a demoralising margin, this time by eight wickets at the MCG after Chris Rogers scored his second Test hundred.

Suddenly, from their three-nil win in the summer, a buffer that was meant to comfort them from the harsher realities of Ashes cricket in Australia, they have been plunged into regime-changing chaos of a potential whitewash in Sydney, something that looks almost certain following this dispiriting defeat.

Paul Downton, the incoming managing director of England cricket, will be in Sydney to see his new charges’ attempt to stave off further defeat. England have been four-nil down five times in Australia and managed to avoid the dreaded whitewash twice, so he has a fifty percent chance of beginning the job with something other than a blank piece of paper.

Alastair Cook, the captain, need not consider his position as he is relatively new to the job and is still learning its trials and tribulations. But others in the team management will surely do so, even if Australia fail to win in Sydney.

Cook is the only plausible candidate in the current squad though his personality and style of captaincy rely upon him leading by example rather than inspiring with Churchillian rhetoric. That means scoring big runs, something he has not done here and it has exposed him as a leader. Yet, he appears to have inspired loyalty in Kevin Pietersen, England’s most awkward player, who has tried to knuckle down for his captain, despite it being alien to him.

Cook won that loyalty by paving the way for Pietersen’s return to the team after his brief exile for sending texts about Andrew Strauss to South Africa’s cricketers. But others have not looked as beholden to him and most have failed to be inspired.

From the moment England landed in Perth, this tour has been a litany of failings. From the selection of three giant fast bowlers, who have become little more than excess baggage, to the unexpected departure of two senior players during the series, one to stress the other to a sobering decline in form, their defence of the urn has unravelled with alarming ease and speed.

Jonathan Trott deserves our sympathy for suffering a stress-related illness yet Andy Flower admitted England’s selectors had been aware of his condition for a while. They would not pick an injured bowler to deliver 30 overs in 100F degree temperatures so why a batsman with mental problems for a tour which tends to probe character like no other?

Despite the Ashes being lost after just three Tests there was an opportunity for belated redress through wins here and in Sydney. Yet, unlike the other defeats this one was even more dispiriting given England had led for most of the match. For the best part of three days they were ahead until their batting collapse late on Saturday, when they lost five wickets for six runs to concede their pole position.

On a pitch offering as little as the atmospheric conditions, it was a feeble folding of their collective will. Mitchell Johnson has bowled fast and aggressively all series, but like Pavlov’s dog Michael Clarke need only whistle in his direction for England’s middle and late order to start panicking. It happened in Brisbane and again on Saturday afternoon when, with Johnson hurtling in one end, five succumbed to the non-turning off-spin of Nathan Lyon at the other.

Still, Australia needing 231 on a fourth day pitch was not a done deal, even if the manner of England’s setting of the target would have instilled confidence nervous teenager. To have a chance, they needed to take a few quick wickets in the morning session and then get the ball moving sideways, as they had done with reverse-swing in Australia’s first innings, but neither occurred despite David Warner being caught behind cutting off Ben Stokes for 25.

Instead, Rogers, who knows this ground well from his time with Victoria, and Shane Watson, added 136 for the second wicket to break the back of the chase. At 2.27 pm, Watson saw the job through when he hit Monty Panesar for two to finish unbeaten on 83.

It was Rogers’s second Test hundred after the one he made in a losing cause at Durham four months ago. It came off 135 balls with 11 fours, which was pretty brisk for him, though with Cook saving Anderson and Broad for prolonged spells should the ball have started reversing, he faced the inexperienced Stokes and the unthreatening Tim Bresnan for much of the time.

If England’s plans were to make it hard for him to score, as they had done in the first innings, they failed as he cut and punched the seam bowlers through gaps in the field.

England’s plight was not helped when they failed to hold on to the two chances he presented and the simpler one Warner gave off Stokes when he was 22 and which Cook floored at first slip. Tense captains do not tend to have the soft hands required to catch well at slip and Cook may have to rethink where he fields and, possibly, where he bats too, if he is to continue as captain.

The chances Rogers offered were both Jonny Bairstow’s to pouch but he failed to go for one and was a fraction late on the other, after the left-hander had edged Stuart Broad. When opportunities like that are not taken in a low-scoring game and against a team as focused and driven as Australia have been this series, failure beckons.

Rogers got out with 31 runs still required cutting at Panesar, but the chase was essentially over. When it did come the Barmy Army had been subdued into silence, the early hour of defeat coming to soon for even the beer to have started talking, not that there was anything complimentary to say.